Elizabeth Warren: It’s time to work on America’s agenda
Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, represents Massachusetts in the Senate.
There
have been terrible, horrible, no good, very bad Election Days for
Democrats before — and Republicans have had a few of those, too. Such
days are always followed by plenty of pronouncements about what just
changed and what’s going to be different going forward.
But
for all the talk of change in Washington and in states where one party
is taking over from another, one thing has not changed: The stock market and gross domestic product keep going up, while families are getting squeezed hard by an economy that isn’t working for them.
The
solution to this isn’t a basket of quickly passed laws designed to
prove Congress can do something — anything. The solution isn’t for the
president to cut deals — any deals — just to show he can do business.
The solution requires an honest recognition of the kind of changes
needed if families are going to get a shot at building a secure future.
It’s
not about big government or small government. It’s not the size of
government that worries people; rather it’s deep-down concern over who
government works for. People are ready to work, ready to do their part,
ready to fight for their futures and their kids’ futures, but they see a
government that bows and scrapes for big corporations, big banks, big
oil companies and big political donors — and they know this government
does not work for them.
The
American people want a fighting chance to build better lives for their
families. They want a government that will stand up to the big banks
when they break the law. A government that helps out students who are
getting crushed by debt. A government that will protect and expand
Social Security for our seniors and raise the minimum wage.
Americans
understand that building a prosperous future isn’t free. They want us
to invest carefully and prudently, sharply aware that Congress spends
the people’s money. They want us to make investments that will pay off
in their lives, investments in the roads and power grids that make it
easier for businesses to create good jobs here in America, investments
in medical and scientific research that spur new discoveries and
economic growth, and investments in educating our children so they can
build a future for themselves and their children.
Before
leaders in Congress and the president get caught up in proving they can
pass some new laws, everyone should take a skeptical look at whom those
new laws will serve. At this very minute, lobbyists and lawyers are
lining up by the thousands to push for new laws — laws that will help
their rich and powerful clients get richer and more powerful. Hoping to
catch a wave of dealmaking, these lobbyists and lawyers — and their
well-heeled clients — are looking for the chance to rig the game just a
little more.
But the lobbyists’ agenda is
not America’s agenda. Americans are deeply suspicious of trade deals
negotiated in secret, with chief executives invited into the room while
the workers whose jobs are on the line are locked outside. They have
been burned enough times on tax deals that carefully protect the tender
fannies of billionaires and big oil and other big political donors,
while working families just get hammered. They are appalled by Wall
Street banks that got taxpayer bailouts and now whine that the laws are
too tough, even as they rake in billions in profits. If cutting deals
means helping big corporations, Wall Street banks and the
already-powerful, that isn’t a victory for the American people — it’s
just another round of the same old rigged game.
Yes,
we need action. But action must be focused in the right place: on
ending tax laws riddled with loopholes that favor giant corporations, on
breaking up the financial institutions that continue to threaten our
economy, and on giving people struggling with high-interest student
loans the same chance to refinance their debt that every Wall Street
corporation enjoys. There’s no shortage of work that Congress can do,
but the agenda shouldn’t be drawn up by a bunch of corporate lobbyists
and lawyers.
Change
is hard, especially when the playing field is already tilted so far in
favor of those with money and influence. But this government belongs to
the American people, and it’s time to work on America’s agenda. America
is ready — and Congress should be ready, too.
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